Aftermath
by Skyverr
Summary: "I have to try." It's the aftermath of The Battle of New York. How much damage can Ladybug repair before it's too much for her? One-shot.


**Author:** Skyverr

 **Prompt:** One-shot. It's the aftermath of The Battle of New York. How much damage can LB repair?

 **AN:** Here's a crossover one-shot of Avengers x Miraculous Ladybug. It's just a plot bunny I had awhile back. It's been posted on my tumblr blog, _miraculousladybugsundae._ Also, I didn't really spend much time on it in the first place, so it's not up to par with my other stories (which is why I didn't post it to begin with, but I really don't mind anymore.)

 **Edited** : 8/8/17

* * *

 **Aftermath**

 _a superhero crossover_

 **-x-**

"I-Is it over?" Ladybug panted, fatigue seeping through her suit like poison. Chat Noir was by her side, breathing heavily as he looked and watched the spacial distortion slowly close. She held her breath, waiting for Stark to come back - and he did. Iron Man fell from the sky, plummeting to the ground at an alarming speed.

Marinette gasped, "He's not slowing down!"

Steve Rogers clenched his fists and looked ready to jump into action, but he knew there wasn't anything to save him from his fate. Black Widow and Hawkeye had similar expressions, and Thor was about ready to fly forward and try to reach him on time - but a green hulking monster got there first. A relieved sigh brushed past Marinette's lips as the band of misfit heroes made their way to their two comrades (though Ladybug eyed the green beast with a wary stare).

After Tony was seen to be safe and alive, rambling on about shawarma, Ladybug looked out at the city, distracted by its utter ruin. She jumped a little when a hand was placed on her shoulder and turned her head to see Adrien give a silent smile. She mirrored his level grin, but her sapphire eyes refused to tear themselves from the devastated city surrounding them. A sharp pain tugged her heartstrings, as if to say, " _You didn't do enough."_

Did they really win?

At what cost?

"I don't think my powers will fix everything," she whispered to her partner mournfully, her hand lightly grabbing his wrist and moving away and off of her.

Chat blinked next to, eyes darting over to Ladybug as he furrowed his eyebrows. "No one expects that...and I don't think you should try. The amount of power it would take to heal the entire city is something beyond your power."

"I have to try. " Ladybug murmured, reverting back to her native tongue. She stared into his mesmerizing green eyes, but shook her head quickly. "I've fixed Paris countless times, this shouldn't be any different."

"I don't think it's a good idea, my lady. The damage is more extensive than ever before." Chat said slowly, grabbing a hold of Ladybug's wrist. She pursed her lips and yanked away from his grip gently. Their fiery gazes clashed in a battle of wills, until finally Marinette looked away with gritted teeth.

She murmured quietly, "I have to try."

"Ladybug - " Chat started, but before he could say anything more she had already stepped away and threw up her yo-yo.

"Lucky Charm!" Her voice echoed, and all heads turned her way. A red and black-spotted cookie appeared, and Marinette blinked rapidly. Chat blinked before a smile appeared on his lips and a chuckle escaped him. Ladybug snorted, "Lucky Charm never ceases to amuse me."

"Is that a cookie?" Hawkeye peered over at them, eyebrow up in disbelief.

"It's better than a paperclip," she shot back with an amused smirk. Then, before anything else happened, she started to eat the cookie. It didn't taste like anything, surprisingly, but the moment she swallowed the entire thing she felt an intense pain spiked through her chest.

"Gah!" Ladybug cried out, crumpling down to her knees. A dull, throbbing pain attacked her body and frayed her senses.

"Ladybug!" Chat Noir was by her side in an instant, voice panicked and shocked.

"I'm f-fine," she hissed, "j-just fine."

"What's happening?" The captain asked almost frantically.

"It is her magic. Her power seems to be expanding," Thor answered in his thick accent, eyes narrowing at Ladybug. He had recognized the ancient energy of his people, but to see Midgardians wielding it had left him speechless. A gift from the gods, Marinette had tried explaining, but he knew that his people - the Asgardians - would never have willingly given such powerful gifts to mere mortals. Yet. Yet somehow they had acquired it.

Ladybug hugged her arms tightly under her chest as if attempting to hold in her pain. The other heroes watched with concerned eyes, uncertain on what was happening. None as anxious as Adrien, whose heart shattered while seeing Marinette in agony.

The rippling pain slowly dispersed and was replaced with a soft red glow illuminating from her suit. The gentle glow gradually became blinding, and Marinette gasped when she felt a great power surge through her.

Despite her labored breathing, Ladybug rose to her feet. Chat remained crouched as he gawked up with wide emerald eyes, "My lady...you..."

"A magical suit upgrade? Really?" A sarcastic remark came from the one and only Tony Stark, and his voice made Ladybug quirk her lips as she studied at her altered neckline was a V-cut, more risque than Marinette was normally comfortable with. Her neck and shoulders were covered in black material; the rest of the suit was red with black spots, as usual. The most startling change, however, were the breathtaking translucent wings lying flat against her back.

 _Wings._

She could _fly!_

Marinette wanted to squeal and gush over how her suit looked like something straight out of her fantasies, but as Ladybug she schooled her features into that of a confident hero with newfound strength. She finally spoke up again, glancing at her long-time partner. "Chat, I need you to catch me. Can you do that?"

Adrien was startled out of his awe and unable to think coherently. He responded dumbly, "Y-Yes, my lady. What are you doing?"

"I'm about to perform a miracle." She chuckled and ruffled his hair before looking up and concentrated on moving her wings. Moving the added appendages came naturally - it was like walking or smiling. In an instant she shot up into the air, wind whisking and combing through her messy dark hair. She rose up higher and higher at a breakneck speed, until she was far above the city skyline. Her eyes swept across the destroyed city a final time.

She was relieved it wasn't Paris that had been attacked...but still..she was going to do everything in her power to fix it. She sent up a silent prayer to some deity so that they might help her fix everything she possibly could. At last, she let her firm voice escape her and ring clearly through the crisp atmosphere, "Miraculous Ladybug!"

There was no magical item to throw up this time.

No, this time _she_ was the Charm.

The experience was as exhilarating as it was disconcerting. Ladybug felt herself split apart into millions of tiny pieces - millions of ladybugs. She traveled across the land, following the magic and bringing with her the power to restore everything to what it once was. She was everywhere, she was beyond limits, she was infinite. She became one with the Old Magic, and Marinette slowly lost herself. She forget she was human. She was an ethereal product of the universe. There was no life. There was no death. She had no past, no future - she lived only for the present.

" _Marinette, stop! Listen to me, wake up now or you'll never wake up again!_ " a small, familiar voice spoke from the fogginess like a knife cutting through cotton.

"Tikki?" Her human voice echoed throughout the thickness of the universe.

" _Marinette! I shouldn't have let you go this far, I'm sorry_! _You have to fight to become whole again or we'll both cease to exist! You have to wake yourself up! You have to pull yourself together!_ "

"Tikki..." The fuzziness refused to leave, but the young girl began to struggle. She wasn't magic. She was Marinette. She had to get back to her mom and dad. She had to get back to Alya and Nino. She had to get back to Chat _\- to Adrien_.

Suddenly the limbo she had been suspended in snapped.

Marinette blinked to awareness at once more, feeling her body come back together after being split apart for what seemed like eons. And just like that, she was Ladybug once more. Her wings spluttered, trying to catch herself from falling from midair, and she succeeded...for a moment.

Her miraculous beeped.

She fell, transformation ending, and a suddenly exhausted and spent Marinette and kwami were hurdling towards the freshly repaired ground at an alarming speed.

She saw her reflection against the glass of the building beside her. She saw the reflection of a shadow leaping to her, catching both her and Tikki's bodies in his arms. A sad smile adorned his face as she looked up with half-lidded eyes. Chat Noir landed with the grace of his namesake on the roof of another building. They both let out silent sighs. Glancing around her surroundings, Marinette knew she had put New York back together again. For the most part. She knew that all the bodies of those who had perished would remain motionless, and that the alien wreckage would remain scattered across the city, but that was alright.

She had done what she could.

The young superhero returned her attention to her partner, giving him a weary smile. She murmured to him after a moment of relieved silence, "I knew you'd catch me, Adrien."

Adrien paused and stared warmly into her twin pools of sapphire, "I'll always catch you, Marinette."


End file.
